1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a crop processor in the form of an attachment to a round hay baler for cutting, chopping and shredding various crops, especially hay and all types of crops with stems or stalks extending above ground. The cut, chopped or shredded crop is discharged into a round hay baler to form the processed crop into a round hay bale with the cut lengths of the crop material being useful for bedding, dry feeds, silage and other wet feeds and is especially useful in a total mixed ration mixing machine. The crop processor includes an open bottom housing having a high speed rotor with multiple knives mounted thereon. An adjustable shear bar is mounted in the housing to enable the crop to be processed to be cut at desired cut length by the knives on the spinning rotor as they pass the shear bar. The housing is located generally under the hitch area and forwardly of the existing wheels, hay entrance area and pickup tines of the round bale hay baler with the processed crop material being delivered to the round hay baler in the same location that hay would normally enter the baler to be baled. The shear bar is horizontally adjustable toward and away from the rotor and knives to vary the cutting, chopping and shredding characteristics of the crop processor in order to vary the cut length of crop material. The rotor is driven by a drive system which includes a forwardly positioned hitch extension and a gear box oriented forwardly of the baler drive system. The gear box is driven by the existing power takeoff shaft from a towing tractor. The hay baler is also driven from the gear box. The gear box drives an output shaft which is drivingly connected to the rotor through a chain coupler, PTO shaft and belt and pulley assemblies. The crop processor is supported from the hay baler to enable the apparatus to float upwardly when traversing uneven terrain such as through dips, small ditches, gopher mounds and the like with the apparatus returning to its normal cutting height due to gravity when traversing level terrain. The rotor is in the form of square tube with the pivotal knives being mounted on the flat side surfaces of the tube in staggered relation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shredding devices are well known for shredding stubble or stalks from a harvested crop. Such devices usually deposit the shredded material back onto the ground surface which would require a raking or pickup operation to collect and make use of the shredded material. Shredding devices also exist which discharge the shredded material into the baler to form bales of shredded material. Such devices are in the form of attachments to hay balers including hay balers which produce generally rectangular bales as well as hay balers which produce round hay bales. The following U.S. Patent Nos. relate to this subject matter. U.S. Pat. Nos:
2,817,945 PA0 3,295,299 PA0 3,362,144 PA0 3,483,688 PA0 3,604,188 PA0 3,606,748 PA0 3,641,754 PA0 3,894,484 PA0 4,280,320 PA0 4,559,770 PA0 5,052,170
The above listed prior patents do not disclose the crop processor for round hay balers of the present invention.